'Islam does not encourage destruction of heritage'

Conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya have taken a toll on culture, Unesco expert says

 

Abu Dhabi: Despite repeated assertions from extremist groups, Islam has never endorsed the destruction of heritage, a prominent cultural heritage expert said.

This verdict, reached by a group of eminent Islamic law experts in December 2001 at a Unesco conference in Qatar, needs to be highlighted in the light of recent events in the Middle East, said Dr Mounir Bouchenaki, cultural expert and one-time director of the World Heritage Centre at Unesco.

He was speaking at the two-day Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage conference which began in the capital on Friday. The UAE-French initiative saw representatives discuss threats to worldwide cultural property, with special focus on the armed conflicts in the region.

“Islam never encourages the destruction of works of the past that are considered elements of knowledge and reference,” Dr Bouchenaki said.

“Sadly, the latest events in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya show that many [warring parties] have no respect for the cultural heritage or even the lives of people,” he added.

Dr Bouchenaki explained that cultural heritage, including works of art and records, are often lost during conflicts as a result of the overall devastation. But there is also intentional burning of libraries, looting of museums and the illegal evacuation of archaeological sites, as evidenced during the Iraq War that began in 2003.

“[During a visit] with experts, we saw that 15,000 items had been stolen from shelves at the Iraqi museum, and looting has increased exponentially since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq,” he said.

He therefore advised that the international community, in coordination with local professionals, carry out emergency operations [to preserve] cultural heritage in times of war.

“The director-general of museums and antiquities has announced that the majority of the artefacts of 34 national museums in Syria have been transferred to secure warehouses. Then again, we don’t yet know how many artefacts are being illegally excavated in both Syria and Iraq and being sold on illegal markets,” the expert said.

He, however, infused a note of hope, saying that it is possible to restore much of the tangible cultural heritage with the required political will and finances.

“A lot has been lost and the [restoration] work is immense. But there is always something to be recovered,” Dr Bouchenaki stressed.